Journey to the Unknown
by Caigairn
Summary: Alex White is recruited into a mysterious organisation. My attempt is to capture the fact that the X-Com project itself is an act of desperation of earth's govvernments. Note: As X-Com is an international organisation, several languages may be used, however, I'll have to rely on translators. Grammar or sentence correction is welcome.
1. Chapter 1 Recruitment

Recruitment

"Are you alright?" Klaus Wagner asked as he pulled Alex to his feet.  
Alex White's ears were still ringing from the blast.  
"I told you not to get too close to those discs when you shoot them, they tend to blow up." Klaus said as he picked up Alex's rifle and inspected it. "It's toasted, how's your sidearm?"  
Alex checked his holster, glad to find the M9 still in place, a quick look told him it was undamaged.  
"It's good to go Sarge." Alex said as he removed the safety. "Are there any left?"  
Klaus shook his head. "Out there? Most likely billions. Right here, right now? I think we got the last of them." As he said it Alex noticed movement behind his commander.  
From the rubble a grey skinned creature rose up and aimed his weapon. Alex shoved Klaus aside as he emptied his pistol. Not waiting to see if he had hit the creature Alex ducked into cover behind the remains of a shed. Fumbling to reload his gun Alex listened for a hint of what was happening.  
He heard quick bursts of fire from an automatic rifle and the usual string of curses from Klaus. Then as he listened closer a high pitched screeching that sounded like nothing that belonged on earth.  
Daring to glance a look he saw Klaus lying on the ground, somehow managing to fire his rifle in the general direction of the creature while wisps of smoke trailed from his left arm, which seemed to be smoldering.  
Alex took a deep breath and counted the time between burst of rifle fire. He then crouched and got his gun ready.  
As Klaus opened a new burst of fire Alex sprinted from his cover position towards the screeching.  
As he jumped over the rubble he saw the bug-eyed grey creature look up. Before even he himself realized it, Alex had emptied his gun in the creatures head.  
Then things seemed to get silent for a moment.  
Alex exhaled and sound returned to the world. He could hear Klaus behind him but couldn't make out what he was saying. In the distance fighting seemed to be dying down as well. He didn't look at the creature but turned to Klaus and realized the Sarge had gone silent.  
Running over to Klaus he activated his radio. "This is Private Alex White, 45th; my CO is down, request immediate medical assistance."  
For a moment Alex listened to the static while checking Klaus' wounds. "This is Private Alex White, 45th; my CO is down, request immediate medical assistance." He repeated.  
Again, nothing but static.  
"This is Private Alex White, 45th; my CO is down, request immediate medical assistance." Alex was now shouting.  
After a moment his radio creaked and a female voice responded.  
"Private White, we read you, what is your position?"  
Alex looked around, the fighting had kept him occupied that he barely knew where he had ended up.  
"Uhm, slightly east from the church on Church road," he began. "We are in the graveyard, near the groundskeeper shed."  
A moment of silence before the female voice responded.  
"Roger that, private. We are sending a medic now."  
Alex let out a sigh of relief, it was going to be alright now. And then a shadow passed over him.  
As Alex looked up an armored figure, heavily armed came floating over the church and started to descend upon him.  
Alex raised his pistol and pulled the trigger only to hear a click. Panicked he reached for Klaus' rifle when the figure spoke. "Relax private, I am the good guys."  
The voice was the one that had spoken to him over the radio.  
As the figure landed, it took of its helmet to reveal a young redheaded female.  
"Maria Evans, I'm the medic you called for." She said, kneeling beside Klaus, examining his wound.  
"Direct hit to the left arm, plasma rifle, he is lucky, normally greys hit dead center. And he would have been a goner." She used a knife to cut the sleeve from the serge's uniform, revealing a blackened arm.  
She groaned softly. "That's bad, radiation from the blast. He must have been spinning around when he was hit, because only his arm got hit with it." She opened a compartment on her armor and took out a spray can, several syringes filled with a reddish liquid and a large machete.  
"His arm needs to go, before the radiation can spread." She said, while handing Alex the spray can.  
"This should keep him stable and slow his heart rate." Evans said as she injected Klaus with the red liquid. "Now for the nasty part, once I take of the arm, you need to spray the foam over the wound. It will seal it and improve the rate of healing."  
Before Alex could protest, the woman raised the machete and chopped down on Klaus' arm. As there was nothing else to do then to follow instructions at this point, Alex sprayed the shoulder with the can, sealing the wound in thick brown foam.  
"Good job, private." Evans said, giving Alex a quick smile. "This should keep him alive until your people can send down recovery teams."  
Alex nodded somewhat dazed. "Yeah, the rest of 45th should be close by."  
The smile faded from Evans' face. "I'm sorry private, according to our reports, 45th was wiped out, getting your call was a surprise for us. We were getting ready to do clean-up and head back to base when I got your call."

Doctor Williams looked up from his notes.  
"So you say that you don't need any more psych evaluations, you just need to get assigned to a new unit?"  
Alex leaned back in his chair. "You and two other shrinks have been over what happened to me in every little detail. One decided I'm fit for duty, one said I might be repressing things, and you don't see a problem with me returning to the force. I don't need a fourth to go over me again."  
Doctor Williams nodded. "You appear mentally stable. And at the time of the incident you acted admirably."  
"But?"  
"You and Sergeant Wagner are the only two survivors from 45th division. And you are the only one that could go back to serve, which you insist upon even though you have been offered a very handsome retirement option." The doctor paused a moment. "The brass is worried that you might be trying to settle some personal vendetta with the invaders, in which case you might endanger your fellow soldiers."  
Alex shook his head. "We are barely staving off the attacks, for every critter we take out, they take out at least six of our troops." He leaned forward in his chair. "That town went from 6000 civilians to 2000 that day, of my division only two survived engaging the bastards and you ask me if I take this war personal? Of course I take it personal; this entire planet is taking this personal. Fact remains; we need anyone who can fight the bastards out there fighting them."  
Doctor Williams made some notes and then closed the folder.  
"I will send my report to your superiors Alex. You should hear from them soon."

Klaus Wagner was lying on his hospital bed when Alex entered.  
"How was the session?" he asked.  
"Not bad, Sarge. He is sending out his report. Now either they get me back into the field or they kick me out. I'm not leaving on my own."  
Klaus sat up, his shoulder ending abruptly where his arm used to be.  
"They better let you stay on. They need experienced men, and your reflexes can save many more lives." He said smiling.  
"You lost your arm because of my reflexes." Alex said nodding to the stump.  
"And it would have hit me right in the torso if you had not shoved me aside."  
"Did you accept your honorable discharge? "Alex asked.  
Klaus smiled. "Hell no, I convinced them to let me train new recruits. Make damn sure they know the cost of letting your guard down."  
"Congratulations Sarge." Alex smiled. "Now they only need to decide what they will do with me."  
Wagner looked passed Alex and the smile faded from his face.  
"I think they decided, private."  
Alex looked around and saw Doctor Williams and two others in the doorway.  
"Private White, we need to have a word with you. Please follow us." The doctor said.  
Alex nodded, and got up. "I'll let you know what happens next Sarge."  
"Good luck kid."  
Alex followed the Doctor out into the hallway. As they walked he glanced at the other two, one was a captain, A. Fowler by the name on his uniform. The other was a woman in a business suit.  
"Please enter." Doctor Williams said while opening the door to an office.  
"Have a seat, son." Captain Fowler said while taking place behind the desk.  
When everyone was seated the captain opened a folder and looked through it.  
"So you want to return to active duty, private?" He asked looking at Alex.  
"Yes, sir."  
"Sergeant Wagner's field report says that you took out three or four sectoids before you encountered a cyberdisc. Said cyberdisc killed most of your unit before you and Wagner took it out. Believing the threat to have passed Wagner let his guard down. Only your interference saved Wagner's life, you dispatched the sectoid with your sidearm and radioed for medical assistance for Sergeant Wagner." Captain Fowler looked up. "That about right private?"  
"In short, yes, but it makes me sound more heroic when you tell it like that, Sir."  
"What would you change in the report then, private?"  
"Survival of Sergeant Wagner and me has been more about being lucky to be in cover at the right moments, and I could not have taken out that last grey had Sergeant Wagner not given suppressive fire."  
The woman in business suit cleared her throat. "The proper term for that type of alien is Sectoid, private."  
Alex looked at her. "Sorry ma'am, I was not aware of that." She nodded.  
"Doctor Williams. Is private White fit for renewed duty?" The captain asked.  
"In my opinion. Yes."  
"Very well." The captain signed some forms in the folder and used a stamp to date them.  
Then he looked at Alex.  
"Private Alex White I hereby discharge you from the military. I hope that the skills you have gained while in the service will aid you in life outside our nation's military."  
Alex head was spinning. "What?"  
"You heard me private. The military has to let you go. But I believe Miss Ocean here has an offer for you."  
Alex fixed his gaze on the woman. "Yes, Mister White, your combat record proves that you are a capable and efficient soldier for this conflict. And according to Doctor Williams you are willing and able to take this fight to the enemy, without losing track of the bigger picture."  
The woman got a stack of papers from her briefcase.  
"According to one of our own field operatives, you appear to be a man who can follow orders, even if they appear grisly, in order to save lives." She handed Alex what looked like a contract and a pen.  
"If you wish to continue your fight against the invaders, please sign that."  
Alex glanced over the text.  
"I'm not signing this."  
"And why not, Mister White?"  
"Because miss Ocean, signing up for something blindly and without reading the files that the contract refers to can never end well for me."  
Doctor Williams let out a laugh. "I told you he wouldn't fall for that, miss Ocean."  
Miss Ocean smiled. "We had to test if you would blindly rush into this. I'm glad you didn't because then we would have no use for you." From her briefcase she presented Alex with a thick folder.  
"This is the real contract. Please take your time and sign if you agree with it."  
Alex spend the next four hours going through the files.  
After assuring himself that there were no hidden conditions, he put his signature on the agreement.  
Miss Ocean smiled. "Welcome to X-Com."


	2. Chapter 2 Off the deep end

**Off the deep end**

Miss Ocean was going through some files while they were in the waiting area. Alex looked out the window into the mountainous landscape.  
"Is this your first time in the Alps?" She asked.  
Alex looked over his shoulder. "I think we made a stopover in Italy when the 45th was headed for Afghanistan, the Sarge pointed out some famous mountains when we flew in, don't recall the names. Haven't seen much at the time"  
"Well, let me be the first to say it then, Willkommen in Deutschland, Herr White."  
"If everyone at the base speaks German, I might have a hard time fitting in."  
Miss Ocean smiled. "Don't worry, most of them speak perfect English, most of the time."  
The sound of an approaching helicopter made Alex look out again. "Is that our ride, ma'am?"

"It's probably another recruiter with his charge, just like us."

Sure enough, as the helicopter touched down two men stepped out, one sharply dressed with a briefcase, the other was thin a thin youth with hair reaching down to his shoulders.

"That guy doesn't look military to me." Alex remarked.

"Who said he has to be?" Miss Ocean asked with raised eyebrows, "Didn't you state that this war needs anyone who is willing and able to fight?

The doors to the waiting area opened and the two men entered. When the sharply dressed man spotted them he smiled. "Good haul this time Felicia?"

Miss Ocean rolled her eyes. "Alex White, meet Reinholt Kralinger, he is a colleague of mine that recruits individuals with great potential like you."

"You still haven't answered my question Felicia." Kralinger said as he dropped himself into the seat across from them.

"Mister White has proven himself in combat already and he has a recommendation from one of Alpha's members."

Kralinger whistled. "So you didn't even have to search for him, just follow Alpha's directions. You get all the easy ones."

Before miss Ocean could respond, Alex got up and stepped towards the young man who was standing a bit uneasy to the side.

"I'm Alex, seems we'll be seeing a lot of each other soon." He said as he put out his hand towards the young man.

_I'm Victor, nice to meet you. _A voice sounded inside Alex' head.

The young man shook Alex's hand.

Miss Ocean's papers where on the floor.

"He is an Epsilon recruit?"

Kralinger shook his head in denial. "No formal training, no implants or neuro enhancing drugs in his system. As far as we can tell, he is a natural Psionic."

Victor looked at the floor. "I'm sorry if I startled you, Alex, it's hard to differentiate between my inside and outside voice sometimes."

"Is that even possible?" Miss Ocean asked Kralinger, who in turn just raised his hands.

"The people that go into Epsilon already have some form of natural aptitude, or else no amount of drugs or implants could make them psionic, Victor just seems to be a step ahead of the rest of us."

"Unless I try very hard, I can't hear more than people's surface thoughts Miss Felicia, and the medicines against air sickness makes it hard to focus, so you don't need to worry." Victor said.

"Kid, she never asked that question out loud." Alex said, a little apprehensive of his thoughts himself. "So, can you turn off hearing our surface thoughts in any way?" He added.

Victor looked apologetic at miss Ocean, who for the first time since Alex had met her seemed uneasy.

"Usually, I drown out all sounds by listening to music, very loud."

Victor took out an old Walkman and put headphones on as he sat down. Even across the path, Alex could make out some shrieking about pain, death and the devil over a concord of guitars and drums.

"He's not listening anymore?" Miss Ocean asked.

"It's the only way for him to get some quiet, by deafening his normal hearing into sensory overload." Kralinger said, for a moment Alex thought he saw pity in the man's eyes. "And even that is getting harder, since his hearing is deteriorating from it. Unless he gets some real control, he'll be deaf before he turns 22."

"I bet Epsilon is going to be happy with this kind of research material." Miss Ocean said.

"He's not enrolling in Epsilon. He is going grunt, like your boy."

"The commander wouldn't allow that, Reinholt."

"He already has, the boy first peaked our interest after the debacle at Dresden."

Miss Ocean looked at Victor in surprise. "He is Homerun?"

"Hold up, you are now losing me." Alex intervened before Kralinger could answer.

Kralinger and miss Ocean looked at him for a moment. "He's your recruit, you fill him in on our darkest hour Felicia."

"You know that we lost Dresden to the attackers?" Miss Ocean asked as she sat back down.

"Dresden is when the official response to the attacks began, but according to the files, X-Com had been active for about seven months at that point." Alex recited what he had learned from Miss Ocean's files. "During the attack, most of the city was destroyed by the fighting in the streets. What was left standing was brought down by an unknown ordinance. Casualties among civilians and military add up to nearly half a million."

"And yet, we were winning that battle." Kralinger interfered.

"What isn't as widely known," Miss Ocean began, "is that Dresden was the largest operation of X-com up until now. As soon as we realized the scope of the attack, we deployed the entire Delta Division, it was also the first time we openly coordinated our operation with the local military forces. As the battle advanced in our favor we had a several medics leave the front of the assault to start aiding both military and civilians. They were the only Delta units that weren't at ground zero, and we managed to retrieve some of their armor."

Kralinger took over: "Two armors that were recovered had their video logs still somewhat intact. Both had at one point in the attack spotted a civilian engaging sectoid with what seemed to be a baseball bat. The boy was assumed dead in the blast, but the video went viral on base. People started to refer to the boy as Homerun."

"But," miss Ocean interjected. "Homerun was spotted well within the blast range, going by the time stamps on those videos, he could not have gotten out of the city alive."

Kralinger shrugged. "Probably threw up some type of shield. While I was scouting him out, he more than once reacted to something with his powers in a way that he could not recreate under controlled circumstances." He then started smiling. "Best part though, Homerun is completely wrong as a nickname, he was using a wooden samurai sword at the time."

"You mean a boken?" Alex asked.

"Sure, something like that."

"But, if he is untrained and not in full control of his abilities, then why won't he be given to Epsilon for research?" Miss Ocean asked.

"Because we have this volunteer based system that you and I have to work in." Kralinger sighed. "The kid refused to sign anything that would turn him into a lab rat. His contract with X-Com clearly states that he will be given standard military training with some additional training in the use of his psionic abilities. We try to probe him more than that, his contract becomes null and void and we lose a soldier, and since we lost Delta, we can't afford to lose anyone."

Alex shook his head. "You're a top secret worldwide organization, backed by the most powerful nations in the world and you couldn't just kidnap one person in order to research his weird abilities?"

Miss Ocean looked offended. "We try to abide by a higher standard than the aliens. Simply kidnaping and dissecting civilians is not an option."

"Yeah right, you keep believing we are honorable people Felicia. Fact of the matter is, Victor is a German citizen, and any dissecting we would do on him would have to be reported to the council, at which point the German representative would start fussing about it. Had the boy come from some small backwater country that has not even a clue that we exist, he'd have been on the dissecting table a month ago."

"You are making me reconsider signing up for this, Mr. Kralinger." Alex said.

"Don't worry Alex, Reinholt likes to be pessimistic about where this war is headed." miss Ocean intervened.

"Felicia is probably right, we may be forced to do some dirty deeds in order to keep mankind safe, but we're not that desperate. Not yet."

Alex leaned back in his seat, trying to let all this information sink in. Kralinger had taken out a paper called Der Spiegel and started doing a crossword in German, miss Ocean returned to her files. The only sound came from Victor's headphones.

Trying not to be too obvious about it, Alex took a closer look at Victor, when he signed up for X-Com he had expected his fellow soldiers to look like just that, big and battle-hardened. But right opposite him, sat one of his future fellow soldiers, a boy barely twenty years old by the looks of it, wearing a shirt of some metal band called Dimmu Borgir. Victor was about average in height and weight, and Alex had no doubt that he could probably easily lift up and toss the lad, had his appearance been all there was to him.

_A month ago, I worried about bullets maybe not working against these things, now I'm sitting opposite from a guy who could toss me around with a single thought._

Victor looked up at Alex, music still screaming through his headphones. _Don't worry, we all get used to it._


	3. Chapter 3 Friends Old and New

**Friends old and new**

"If there is one thing that crushes wonder and amazement in a fell swoop, it's basic."

Alex said dropping down onto his bunk.

Victor looked at him while rubbing his temples.

"I mean, we arrive at a base that seems to occupy an entire mountain, not counting the restricted access areas that we have no clearance for, are handed equipment that is only supposed to exist in science fiction novels, come face to face with live captured specimens of things that evolved somewhere we probably haven't even dreamt of. And here I am, unable to think of anything but getting some shut-eye before the next round of drills starts."

_And you have been through basic before, I used to be a civilian._

"Trust me kid, compared to what they put us through here, regular basic merely seems like purgatory compared to this ninth layer of hell we are dumped in."

_Add Psi training to your workload, and then you are allowed to complain to me old man._

"I guess you're right kid."

"Will you two cut that out, your one sided conversations are creepy enough when I'm not going through sleep deprivation." Will Dexter grunted from the bunk above Alex's.

"Right, sorry Grumpy, we'll get some sleep as well." Alex said closing his eyes.

Victor looked at the door. "I wouldn't count on it."

Moments later the door slid open and a 6 foot tall blond man, who had the looks of a Viking in uniform stormed into the room while banging a gong.

"Out of bed, you lazy slugs, we have places to go, aliens to kill! Every hour you maggots waste not being combat ready, you're not out there being a meat shield for a soldier that actually matters."

Will and most of the other recruits were getting down from their bunks, while Alex and Victor were already standing at attention. Sergeant Ølafson turned his attention to the two of them.

"So you two are standing neat and ready for training, feel too good to be surprised by the man who is trying to turn you into useful members of this outfit. Don't you?"

"No, sir!" Alex and Victor responded to the hulking man that was screaming down at them.

"Then why are you standing ready for a surprise drill, punk?" He bellowed at them. Then he returned his attention to the rest of the recruits who were now lining up and standing at the ready.

"So did our little Psicho just warn his boyfriend, or did he actually speak up for a change and warned the rest of you as well?"

Down the line a tall tanned soldier called Cesar Aingeru spoke up: "We were given no warning from the psi recruit, sir."

Some of Aingeru's friends murmured in agreement. Then Will interjected: "Recruit Kord did speak up; we were merely to slow to respond to his warning, sir."

Ølafson looked from Aingeru to Will. "Two people, two stories, who do I believe."

"The psi recruit is clearly looking out for only his friends, as he gave us no warning at all sergeant." Aingeru said.

"Simply because recruit Aingeru didn't hear the warning through his own snoring, doesn't mean the warning wasn't given, sir." Will responded.

Ølafson looked at both of them. "Recruit Dexter, learn to respond faster to warnings given by your psi-op, it might keep you alive to actually kill something. Recruit Aingeru, both you, White and Kord are running laps until I remember to tell you that you can quit." He turned and marched to the door. "The rest of you runts are going to holo training, I hear they just perfected the Dresden scenario."

Grunts rose from throughout the room. Will patted Victor on the shoulder as he left the room. "Thanks for the heads up Psicho, next time I'll listen to you."

As Aingeru and his group passed them on the way out, Alex and Victor heard him mutter to his friends. "Pequeño bastardo es un niño demonio."

_He does realize that my abilities pretty much erase any language barriers, doesn't he?_

"He does, kid. The idiot just doesn't care."

Alex was pacing himself trying to keep at the same speed as Victor while they were in their third hour of running laps.

"Come on kid, just a little longer." He encouraged Victor.

Aingeru lapped them once more, muttering insults as he did with every pass.  
_You could probably run him into the ground if you wanted to. Why do you hold back?_

"Because, we don't win a war on our own."

_Please, explain, too tired to find wisdom right now._

"You outrun your squad, you'll find yourself without support fire very soon."

_A machine is only as strong as its weakest part._

"Bad analogy. A good squad is a well-oiled machine that compensates each vulnerability in the separate parts."

_To become more than the sum of its parts?_

"Yeah."

_Then how is you holding back making the machine stronger? _

"It motivates a part that can't go as fast to keep up longer, and it keeps me fresh for combat when we arrive at our destination."

A new round of muttered insults announced the passing of Aingeru.

_He won't last much longer. Everything about him senses worn out._

Sure enough, when Aingeru was about fifty meters ahead he tripped and went down.

Alex and Victor stopped to inspect him.

"You all right, Cesar?" Alex asked.

Aingeru looked hatefully at Victor. "Ese monstruo utilizar sus poderes diablo de viaje conmigo."

"He did no such thing, recruit." A voice sounded behind them.

Alex turned to see a group of soldiers standing behind them. The one who spoke was a bald man with a little beard. "And if you don't like Psionics, you can keep your insults to yourself on this base."

One of the soldiers kneeled next to Aingeru. "Seems he strained his ankle, we better get him to the infirmary before the Viking blows a gasket at us."

The bald soldier nodded. "Kralic, you take the punk to the hospital wing, the rest of you, join in the fun, we're making laps until the Viking tells these two to stop."

There was some annoyed grumbling, but most of the soldiers started to run as Alex and Victor continued their laps.

The bald man joined up with Victor and Alex. "So you think you can easily go faster for a while, but won't because you won't leave your squaddie alone?"

"Yes sir." Alex stated.

"He won't be alone, I'd like a word with him in private for a while recruit. You go put your legs where your mouth is, now run."

"You'll be okay, kid?"

_He'll be fine. _The bald man's voice resounded through Alex's head.

Victor just nodded, so Alex took off.

He was about half a lap ahead of Victor and the bald soldier when a group of the soldiers passed him.  
"So, how do you like my crew, Private White?" A familiar voice sounded.

Among the soldiers that passed him, Alex recognized the red locks of Maria Evans.  
"It's been a joy, ma'am, thank you for the recommendation."

"Is this the guy from 45th you told us about, Red?" Asked a tall, dark soldier with cornrowed hair, who seemed to be in his early thirties.

"Regular grunt that took out a sectoid with just an M9" A blonde woman just behind Evans asked.

"The one and only." Evans said.

"Nice." The blond woman said.

"Welcome aboard, 45." The black man added.

"Now try and keep up." Evans said as the group completely passed Alex.

Alex tried just that, trailing behind the group.

After about three more laps, the blonde woman looked over her shoulder at Alex.

"Oy, Evans, you know the rules. If it follows you home, you have to take care of it."

"You ever run for three hours and then keep up with a fresh Alpha Squad, Princess?" The black man asked.

"Just let me heckle the rookie, Mantis."

The man called Mantis slowed down a bit to match his speed to Alex's.

"So, what does Omega want with your friend over there?" He asked while nodding at Victor and Omega who were running a little up ahead.

"Victor is a psionic like Omega." Alex said. "That, and I believe you used to call him Homerun."

"No shit, that little guy is Homerun?" Princess asked.

"According to Kralinger, yes."

"Haven't you heard, Princess?" Evans asked. "The kid appears to be a natural Psionic, no drugs, no implants."

"It's how he probably survived Dresden." Mantis added.

"So what you two are saying," Princess said, "Is that these two recruits are already combat ready, but the Viking won't let them into a squad."

"Most recruits have some kind of frontline experience, Barbara." Evans answered. "Imagine facing a sectoid with nothing between you and him your BDU and maybe a few layers of Kevlar, and walking away from that."

Mantis took over the example. "Then you come here, and not only get decked out with armor that can withstand at least one direct hit, but also a piece that pierces through these bastards with ease."

"In the early days, we lost a whole lot of rookies that suddenly believed themself invincible." Evans concluded.

Princess looked confused. "Nobody from my batch of rookies acted that stupid."

Mantis and Evans let out a chuckle. "That's because you and your fellow rooks were handed over to the Viking."

"Speak of the devil." Mantis said, pointing to the entrance, where Ølafson entered.

"White, Kord, you two are done for today."

"Thank you, sir!" Alex shouted as he stopped.

_So you can keep up with my squad on the track, good job kid. _Omega's voice resounded in Alex's head as the man approached him supporting Victor who seemed ready to collapse. _I can expect you to look after your friend here._

"Yes, sir."

_Good, now dismissed, recruit._

With that, Omega turned and left the track, followed by the rest of his squad. Mantis and Evans looked back at the two of them, doing a half salute in greeting.  
Victor was watching them leave apprehensively, while Sgt. Ølafson approached them.  
"So you two have been making friends in high places?" Ølafson asked of them, surprisingly leaving his usual sarcasm out of his voice.  
"Just getting to know the people we will become meat shields for, sir." Alex responded.

Ølafson actually laughed at that. "Good to know you still know your place, recruit. Maybe I'll make you into something more than a bullet catcher yet."

_Can we go please? I don't want Ølafson to see me collapse._

Ølafson whistled. "I must have really worn recruit Kord out this time, he can't even keep your conversation to himself."

The next set of thoughts Alex received from Victor was an intricate list of both English and German swears. And unless he was mistaken there, were some Japanese and Dutch swears amongst them, as well as some guttural sounding language that Alex didn't recognize.  
"ホーズ野郎" Ølafson repeated. "I have to remember that when I'm talking about recruit Tsukuda's father tomorrow.  
Victor remained silent now. Ølafson seemed disappointed.


	4. Chapter 4 A Higher Education

**A ****Higher**** Education **

After what seemed like hours, Alex finally walked out of the laboratory, his head felt as if he had been on a forty-eight hour pub crawl, right before going out to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

The waiting room outside the lab was filled with a mixture of recruits, some waiting for their name to be called, others recovering from headaches like Alex was.

"45!" A female recruit called out.

Alex turned his head and saw Danielle Gautier slumping on a sofa, pressing an icepack to her forehead. She motioned to the empty spot next to her on the couch, Alex made his way over and dropped himself on the couch.

"I haven't had a headache this bad since I graduated from l'Universit'e de Caen Basse-Normandie." Danielle commented, while handing the icepack to Alex.

"Turn of the Millennium for me." Alex responded. "Bunch of friends and I went out into the Nevada dessert, bringing enough booze to keep us sedated, just in case the world would end. Don't really remember what happened between 22.30 pm December 31st and 11.15 am January 3rd."

Danielle laughed at that, followed immediately with a groan.

"Laughing shouldn't hurt this much." She moaned.

Alex pressed the icepack to his head. Shutting his eyes from the sharp light in the room.

"Why did they keep you in there this long?" Danielle asked. "I thought you already went back to your bunk."

"They finished with you quickly then?" Alex asked.

"Well, I was here when you went in, and I'm still here, plus major headache when you come out." She retorted. "Yeah, they were done quickly with me."

"They believed I had potential, so they kept testing me. Headache just kept building the whole time."

"So you're an Epsilon recruit now?" Danielle asked him.

Alex shook his head in answering in a somewhat relieved voice. "No, not a shred of Psionic talent within me. I just had a fucking high tolerance for their mental probing."

She let out another laughing moan. "Let me guess, hanging out with the Psicho made you a mental bodybuilder."

"They got through my defenses. Eventually." Alex said. "They seemed disappointed."

Danielle took the icepack back from Alex and rubbed it on her face.

"They are trying to rebuild Delta division." She said.

"I figured as much."

"And they want at least one Psionic in each squad."

Alex grunted in agreement.

"And the odds that someone can be made into a psionic are, how much again?"

"1 in 3407, give or take a few." Alex concluded.

"Something like that." she moaned while getting up. "Well, I'm of to my bunk."

Alex got up as well. "I'll walk you there, I don't want you dropping down in the hall somewhere."

Danielle moaned again. "Seriously, don't make me laugh like that. If anyone is at risk of a face plant, it's you."

"At least you'll be able to carry me to my bunk if I go down." Alex responded.

"In your dreams 45, next thing you'll ask me to tuck you in and read you a story as well."

"Don't forget the good night kiss." Alex grinned.

"How about I knock you out right now?" She said mockingly.

Alex looked down at her, as she was a good head shorter than him, her blond hair, normally tied in a tight ponytail was hanging loose, framing a face that could be called delicate, were it not that her nose seemed to have been broken on several occasions.

"I still don't understand where you hide all that muscle." He said while they walked down the hallway.

"You can keep up with our guys while hauling double the weight in gear."

"It's all in the love and joy you have while carrying your gear." Danielle replied, giving him a big smile."I haul a heavy tube, several rockets and enough explosives to make a crater out of a neighborhood. How can you not be motivated to keep up?"

"One of these days, I'm going to have to tell you what the guys have been calling you behind your back." Alex said grinning.

Danielle replied without pausing. "They've been calling me BoomBoom."

Alex raised his eyebrows. "You knew?"

Danielle smiled: "I had to threaten Victor with bodily harm, but he told me."

"You know Victor could have shoved you through a wall, had you actually harmed him, right?"

"Hell yeah, I was kind of hoping to get in a fight, would have been interesting to see how I held up against a psi." She answered, slightly more cheerful than Alex would have liked. "While on the subject however, I'm disappointed in you, 45."

"What did I do this time, oh unstable one?" Alex mockingly asked.

"According to Psicho, you never call me BoomBoom. You always use my regular name." Danielle said accusingly.

Alex just shrug his shoulders. "I don't like using nicknames."

"You call Victor Kid, you refer to Will Dexter as Grumpy, and I believe you call Aingeru The Asshole." She said counting them off on her fingers. "So why am I not BoomBoom according to you?"

"Those are names that I have for them, and none of them mind me calling them that, not counting Aingeru."

"And yet, you refuse to call me by the most awesome name I've ever been called?"

"It's a matter of respect Danielle,let's just leave it at that okay?"

"So when I call you 45, I'm disrespecting you?"

"Oh, look, we're at your quarters already." Alex said somewhat relieved. "See you later, Danielle."

As he tried to walk away quickly, Danielle grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, while shoving him face first into the wall.

"Answer the question, Alex." She said twisting his arm slightly further.

Alex squirmed, trying to free himself, but Danielle truly was far stronger then she looked and she kept him locked in place. After a few moments of struggling, Alex gave up.

"Because everyone calls you BoomBoom, and I don't want you to think of me like I'm everyone else."

"Pourquoi est-il un idiot?".Danielle sighed behind his back. Letting go of his arm, she turned him around.

"You don't have to worry about that Alex." She said. Then she got onto her toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "See you later, 45."

With that, she entered her quarters.

"See you later BoomBoom." Alex replied, shaking his head as the door closed behind her.

"Class is in session!"

Maria Evans entered the auditorium in full gear, her voice sounded harsher then Alex was used to.

"You!" She bellowed, pointing out one of the other recruits in the room. "Which squad member gets the most kills each mission?"  
The recruit snapped at attention. "I don't know, Ma'am!"

"The squad's sniper, recruit." Her gaze fell upon another recruit. "You! Which squad member will be the first to come face to face with an enemy?"

The girl that she looked at hesitated. "The… uh… scout? Ma'am?"

"Very good." Once again her gaze fixed on another recruit. "Which squad member will be most likely to turn a building into a pile of rubble?"  
"A Demolition expert, Ma'am." The recruit answered.

Maria nodded. "And who? Who is the one that will be mocked by rookies the most?"

The room remained silent.

"We are." She said, scanning the room for reactions. "They say we have the easiest jobs, just run around, fire a few shots and use some gadgets. But any squad that returns from a mission will tip their hat at us."

Her eyes fixed on the recruit that she had questioned first.

"Who runs up and places an electroflare right in the middle of an enemy squad so that the sniper can take his shots?"

"We do?" The recruit answered. Evans' gaze shifted to the girl who hesitated.

"Who is providing covering fire for a scout that ran into more than he could handle?"

"We do." The girl answered, more confident this time.

"Who moves into the flames to poke any surviving enemies with a stun rod?" She asked the third recruit.

"We do, Ma'am."

Evans stood there on the stage, seemingly watching every recruit simultaneously.

"Who is the first to run into the defense of a fallen comrade?" She belted.

As one the auditorium responded. "We do!"

"We are the Tactical Combat Support. We bring the toys that make it possible for our squad to be successful. We are there right beside them when the invaders are raining death around us, returning the favor with glee. We are the medics, who treat the wounds of our brethren as said death rain is coming down upon us." She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in.

"Most rookies think we are a joke, not good at anything but good enough to carry a medkit into the field, and spray it on them when they get hurt. I say, let them joke. Because once they had their first contact, they will thank whatever deity they believe in for our existence."

A man walked onto the stage, Evans turned to face him and saluted.

"Thank you Sergeant Evans, for inspiring my class." The man said smiling. Evans returned the smile.

"You are welcome sir." She said, turning her head to once more capture the eyes of the entire room. "You have some good recruits here, I'm sure you will make them great TCS."

Alex had been in the library for six hours when Victor entered the studyroom he and two other TCS recruits had occupied.

_That's a lot of medical textbooks._

"Some of us need to do more then run up to a critter and shove a shotgun into their face, Kid."

The other two recruits looked up in confusion, but when they saw Victor, the just shook their head.

_Come and stretch your legs a bit Grandpa, your not making any sense of what you are reading right now._

Alex looked down at the page and realized he had been going over the same page for fifteen minutes now, not taking in a single word. As he got up, he stretched to get the kinks out of his muscles.

"I'm taking a break, do you guys need any of my textbooks?" He asked the other recruits.

The others just mumbled something about wanting to look up some info in one of the books Alex had been using. Alex just nodded and accompanied Victor outside.

Outside the library he spoke up. "I need some un-recycled air, want to go topside for a while?"

Victor nodded. "Sounds good."

Alex was kind of surprised, this being the first time in over a week that he had heard Victor's actual voice.

"Getting burned out on mindspeak, Kid?"

Victor remained silent for a moment. Then he answered. "Aingeru was send out with a squad today, Gamma Division, Unit 3, Squad 4. They are sending recruits that they consider ready out with experienced squads to get their feet wet."

"And you worry that they send that asshole out, but not either of us?"

"I spend the last two weeks trying to make the 100 meters in under twelve seconds. I learned how to most efficiently wield a shotgun in close combat, and ripped a captured sectoid's mind to shreds in two stages. First with my mind, then with buck shot." Victor said. "I'm considered to be in the top of my class, and yet, they send out Aingeru, who has placed below me in the last six examinations, and keep me on base."

"You think they are keeping you as a guinea pig?"

"Could be."

They approached the checkpoint that lead to an elevator to the observation plateau. A quick check of their I.D.'s later they were standing in the elevator.

"So what do you pack donkeys train for, while we learn to fight?" Victor asked mockingly.

"In the past week, I learned about setting broken bones, the weak spot in a Snakeman's armor, how to stitch up a talon wound, how to disable an alien plasma bomb and I have spend a total of eight hours on the shooting range." Alex counted of on his fingers. "Any hour not spend sleeping, I was either studying for exams, or learning how to use a zapstick as a hand to hand weapon."

Victor smiled. "I guess you heard about Old Ben then?"

Alex laughed. "The guy is a legend on base. His Skyranger was shot down, most of his squad was disabled, before he could equip himself with anything other then a zapstick, the ranger was being hit by three snakes, he took them out with just his psionics and the zapstick."

"Doesn't help that the guy does a mean Alec Guinness impression." Victor added.

"It's the beard, that really nails the nickname." Alex concluded.

The elevator doors opened and Alex stepped out into the cold Alp air. Behind him, he heard the elevator doors close again, he turned and saw Victor looking regretful.

_She said she wouldn't inflict any bodily harm on me if I lured you here._

Alex scanned the plateau, and sure enough, at the far end, he saw the petite figure of Danielle Gautier.

"You do know, you could shove her through a wall if she tried to harm you? Right?" He yelled as the elevator doors closed.

_I know._

There was no way around it. Alex had been burying himself in his training in order to avoid Danielle, as he was still slightly embarrassed by the talk they had outside her quarters. But now, he had to face her again.

"Oy, 45, you're joining me or what?" Danielle bellowed across the plateau.

"Keep your skirt on, Danielle." He said as he walked up to her, for some reason putting emphasis on her real name.

Alex made it halfway to her before a speaker spoke up.

"White!." The Viking's voice rang across the plateau. "Get ready to gear up, you're heading out with Gamma, 2, 1."

Alex made an apologetic motion towards Danielle as he turned back towards the elevators. As he got on them, however, Danielle joined him.

"Damn, you get to go into the field before me." she pouted.

"Don't worry, soon they will need someone to turn a small town into ash, and then they'll ask you."

"Not just that, 45." Danielle answered. "You're heading out with Gamma, 2, 1. You know what squad that is right?"

Alex nodded. "It's Ben Tyler's squad."

"You're rolling with Old Ben himself."

The elevator doors opened. Alex hurried himself towards the prep rooms. Hoping to shake Danielle along the way. He had no such luck, as she kept up with him until they were right outside the prep room.

"See you later, Danielle." Alex said, making to open the door.

Danielle, grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "This is for good luck, 45."

To Alex, the next ten seconds seemed like ten minutes.


	5. Chapter 5 First Contact

First Contact

The atmosphere in the Skyranger was unsettling to Alex. None of the soldiers wanted him there, and he knew it. During the briefing, no one in the squad aside of Ben Tyler acknowledged that he was even there. The mission was supposed to be a simple one, a small alien vessel was downed near a town in Germany, the squad would be dropped near the enemy vessel and neutralize any enemy contacts.

Alex's instructions were simple, stay near Lieutenant Tyler, offer support and not get in the way of the squad. That last one was not an official instruction, but what the squad was implying with their behavior.

Alex mind was racing, rifle was fully charged, power cell should keep the laser going for five bursts, med kit included all regular painkillers, antibiotics and the healing foam that Maria Evans had used to seal up the Sarge's wound, did I bring enough anti-radiation injections, should I have brought a machete?

"Calm down, White." Ben spoke up. "Your mind is spiraling, just take a few deep breaths, you've seen combat before."

Alex looked at the lieutenant.

"Just think of the worst mission you went through with the forty-fifth."

Alex thought for a moment, an image of a village in a valley came to mind, every friendly face could be a hostile, every roadside bush could be hiding an explosive, each moment outside a sniper bullet could find you. They had held that village for three days and lost six men. Then the order came to retreat, leaving the good people in that village at the mercy of the bad people.

"It never gets as bad as that, White, one thing you can say for these grey bastards, they fight fair."

One of the squad members scoffed.

"You saw that?" Alex asked.

Ben nodded. "I've been stationed in Helmand, did three tours there. I saw your memory, and have my own."

"I thought my mind was better shielded than that." Alex said. "Although I got used to my thoughts not being private in this organization."

"Never accept that." Ben snapped. "This war is taking too much from us, never let it take your thoughts, it's all that we are."

Alex was taken aback at this, but before he could respond the intercom sprang to live.

"Drop zone E.T.A. five minutes."

Ben raised his voice. "Lock and Load, people!"

The other soldiers started moving, helmets were fastened, rifles were checked, Alex could hear the hum of several laser rifles coming online.

Alex did a quick check of his own gear, put his helmet on, and took a deep breath.

Across from him, Old Ben put on a bandolier, Alex put on a similar one, making mental notes on which pouch contained what. He heard the lieutenant snicker.  
"On my first outing, I accidentally threw a med kit instead of a smoke grenade, took me six missions to live that one down."  
Alex understood that Ben was trying to ease his mind. " I'll keep that in mind, Sir."

The Skyranger touched down and the squad moved into position around the ramp.  
_Perez, that rock formation has a good view, get up there. Lai, I want you at the back, get ready to suppress any hostile movement. Darshana, Conti, take point. Rook, stick close._

The sniper launched a grappling hook from his wrist and made a swift move to the rocks the Lieutenant indicated, behind them a short Chinese girl brought a gigantic gatling laser in ready position, up front two men removed the safety from there scatter lasers and started moving ahead, moving from cover to cover, taking turns.

Alex in turn stuck close to Ben, moving into a position where they could look provide cover for the scouts.

Alex com sprang to life. "Craft spotted, looks like it won't fly again, crashed on its side, most of the portside ripped open, no movement spotted yet."

"Keep observing Perez, have met our capture quota, as far as I'm concerned, we shoot to kill." Ben replied.

As they kept moving forward, Alex started to get the feeling he was being watched, but could not make out anything in the surrounding woods.

"Road to ship is clear, we're stacking up on the front door, ready to move up as soon as you and the rook are with us." Alex com spoke.

Ben replied, and motioned to Alex to follow him. As they ran, Ben ordered Lai to take position to cover their escape route. Strangely, as Alex moved closer to the ship, the feeling that he was being watched seemed to lessen.

The ship, or what was left of it, was as Perez had described it. It must have come down spinning as most of its side was ripped open, Alex refrained from gazing too long at it, he would get to see the inside soon enough.

The door where Darshana and Conti were standing was sealed with a metal hatch, Conti had already set to work placing charges, Ben motioned Alex to take position behind Darshana on the right side, while he took position behind Conti.

Conti handed the detonator to Ben and shouldered his rifle. Dashana raised his hand, three fingers up, Ben nodded. Two fingers, Alex readied his rifle. One finger, followed by a sharp motion down. Ben pushed the detonator and the door blew of its hatches. Conti moved into the dark room, closely followed by Darshana.

"Flare, rook." Ben commanded. Alex moved instinctively and reached into his pocket, grabbed the small metal disk, clicked it on and threw it into the room.

Ben followed right behind it, Alex gave a quick last glance at the woods, thinking he saw motion in the corner of his eye. Right then, Lai came into view. Reassured he moved into the now well lit room.

Just as he entered, Conti and Dashana gave the all clear, allowing Alex to take in the surroundings.

The craft seemed strangely normal. The walls were metal plated. Some machines were wirring and buzzing away, probably some type of computer, nothing seemed alien as of yet. Maybe unusual in design, but not alien.

_You were expecting something Lovecraftian with impossible angles?_

Alex looked at Ben, raising his shoulders.

"Conti, Dashana, scout ahead." Ben ordered.

As the tow scout's turned the corner, Ben looked at Alex.

"Why did you hesitate before entering? Nerves?"

Alex shook his head. "I thought I saw something in the forest, it was probably Lai."

Ben looked at him with an unreadable expression. "What did you feel?"

Alex was surprised at the question. "I feel better at ease in here than in the forest. Out there, I felt like something was hunting me."

Ben nodded and reached for his com.

"Perez, Lai. We believe there is activity in the woods. Keep a close eye, Lai, move to a position into the crash path and find a cover position there. Keep an eye on both the ship and Perez' position."

He then turned to Alex. "You know why I asked for you to be on my squad for training?"

"You asked for me specifically?"

Ben nodded. "Your file was handed to me by Evans. She has high hopes for you, and from what I see, she is right."

"Sir, you should see this!" Conti called from ahead.

Ben motioned for Alex to follow him. "You have something very useful. Instinct. It shows in your actions before joining us, and during your training, you managed to pull not just yourself, but your squad through a bad situation by going by what your gut told you."

They rounded a corner and saw Conti standing over a form lying on the ground. "Dashana is checking the rest of the hall, he already found something like this up ahead."

Ben nodded and aimed his flashlight at the form. "Okay, White, what are we looking at?"

Alex moved to the creature. The sight of purple flesh, with machine parts flowing out of it in several places was disturbing enough, but this specimen was ripped open, several of his organs were ripped out, exposing the place where it's spine flowed into a metallic frame. The red fabric of the robe that the creature had been wearing had been ripped to shreds.

"It's a floater, the wounds look like it has been mauled by something."

Ben moved the light around a bit. Exposing Dashana further down the hall at a door. Halfway between them and the door was another corpse. Alex noticed the creatures had left a trail of blue goo behind them, he assumed it was blood.

Ben nodded in agreement. "Get ready for some resistance in the next room people."

Dashana nodded and moved for the door controls as the rest of them moved up. As the door opened Alex took in his surroundings as quick as he could. This must have been a cargo hold, several large cages were stacked around the room. The side of chamber had been ripped open and the ground below was visible beneath the,  
"Never seen anything like that before." Ben noted motioning to the shapes inside the cages.  
Alex studied them for a moment. The creatures were bipedal with a brown furry coat, their jaws had several rows of sharp teeth. The ones in the cages were all equipped with a metallic harness that seemed to be part armor, but included a headpiece that seemed to be fused into its skull.

Around the room three other floaters were lying mauled on the floor. Each of them seemed to have been holding some type of weapon. Ben was studying them.  
"These are stun weapons." He said holding one up.  
Alex raised his flashlight at an empty cage. It looked like it had been ripped open during the crash, something in the corner was reflecting light.

"Hold up." He said as he moved closer. As he picked up the shiny object.  
"What you got there, White?" Conti asked.

"Seems like one of those headpieces on those things. Looks like it ripped off, it's broken in places."

Ben took the device from him. "Looks like the pins that went into his skull broke off."

Dashana kept an eye on the surroundings. "That thing went into that beast's brain?"

Ben nodded. "Seems like they controlled them with these helmets."

"The crash ripped off the helmet, and ripped open the cage." Alex said, pointing out the cage with his flashlight. "Then the floaters tried to subdue it with stun weapons."

Dashana grinned. "That got them very far."

Suddenly it dawned on Alex, and he grabbed for his com. "Perez, Lai, there's a new kind of beast in the woods, and it's hunting us!"

"What the fuck are you doing?" Conti yelled at him. But Ben intervened.

"That beast killed the floaters. And it's not here anymore." He pointed at the whole in the wall. "How would you get out? Those things don't fit through those doors, it's out there."

Alex wasn't waiting. He was already lowering himself through the gap in the wall to the ground. Dashana was right behind him.

_Dashana, White, start hunting, Conti and I will check the rest of the ship._

"A bit eager, rook." Dashana said checking the surroundings.  
"And now I know what I forgot to bring." Alex said. "A motion tracker."  
"Just do it the old the way." Darshana said, pointing out tracks in the mud.

Just then heavy fire rang through the forest. Darshana took off like a bullet towards it, Alex was right behind him, using his com to warn Ben and Conti.

As they came around the ship, they saw the creature charging directly into the hail of bolts from Lai's gatling. Dashana ran right up to the creature, beginning to blast away.  
Alex on the other hand noticed the creature wasn't slowing it's charge. With every scrap of will he could gather, he forced his body to move faster than ever before.  
Just before the beast's jaws reached Lai, Alex reached her, shouldering her out of the way.

Time seemed to slow as the beast's teeth came closer together, uncaring that it would bite down on a different meal then planned. Alex tried to raise his rifle, but he realized he had dropped it during the sprint. His body reacted, but before Alex realized what he was doing, the world turned black.


End file.
